Jay, Lloyd, and Cole snuck around the line of people trying to enter the party.  They actually thought that it would be a lot harder to sneak in than it was.  When they got in, they saw how luxurious the inside of the palace really is.  They had never seen anything that looked so nice.

"So, this is how the emperor and empress live while we have nothing," Cole commented.

"Yep," Lloyd said.

"You both know the plan?" Jay asked.  They both nodded.  "I guess we should try to blend in."  The three of them started walking further into the party.

Kai and Nya were already in the party.  Kai was flirting with a lot of the girls while Nya didn't really want to be there.  She was watching Kai flirting and rolled her eyes at the girls who were swooning over him.  Eventually, she had enough of watching him and decided to intervene.  "I'm sorry, but I need to borrow Kai for a bit," she said to the girls around him and pulled him away.

"What did you do that for?" Kai asked his sister.

"I was tired of watching you flirt with every girl who would come up to you."

"Well, what can I say?  Girls like me."

Nya rolled her eyes again.

"Hi guys."  Kai and Nya turned to face the person who was talking.

"Princess Harumi," Kai said as he bowed and Nya did a curtsy as a sign of respect for the 14 year old princess.

"You know you two don't need to be so formal with me," Harumi said.

"Have you been able to get out of the palace at all?" Nya asked.

"No.  The only time I can really interact with people is during these parties.  I'm always stuck in this palace."

"Hello friends," Zane said as he walked up to them.  "And Princess Harumi."  He bowed.

"Seriously?!  Why is everyone so formal?!"

"It is just what we were taught," Zane responded.

Skylor, PIXAL, and Seliel were in the palace kitchen.  Skylor was making the food and preparing it for PIXAL and Seliel to serve.

"This food looks amazing, Sky," Seliel said.

"Thanks," Skylor said as she continued preparing some of the food she made.  "You guys can start bringing out the hors d'oeuvres for people to start eating."

"Of course, Skylor," PIXAL said as she and Seliel picked up plates to serve.  Skylor watched as her friends walked out and hoped that the people at the party will like her food.

Jay, Lloyd, and Cole were standing off to the side.  They didn't really know how to act at a party.

Cole noticed that something looked wrong with Jay.  He looked like he was having trouble breathing.  "Jay, are you ok?"

"Y-yeah," Jay said.  "I think I just realized that I don't like being in big crowds.  I need to get some air.  You guys continue with the plan."  Lloyd and Cole nodded as Jay walked off.  Jay walked into the back courtyard.  It was open to guests, but nobody was currently out there.  He sat down on a bench and worked on steadying his breathing.

Nya was walking around the party after talking to Kai, Zane, and Harumi.  She really hated these parties, but she was always forced to attend.  As she was walking, she noticed someone who was outside by himself and she decided to go talk to him.  She walked out to the back courtyard and up to the boy.  "Is this seat taken?" she asked and gestured to the empty seat next to him.

Jay wasn't expected someone to come up to him like that.  He debated on telling her it was, but he still needed to blend in.  "Uh no.  Go ahead," he said.

Nya sat down next to Jay.  "Are you ok?"

"Yeah.  I'm just not the fondest of big crowds."

"It's ok.  I don't really like these parties.  I'd prefer to be doing other things.  I'm Nya.  Nya Smith."

"I'm Jay."

"Jay what?"

"I prefer to just go by Jay."

"Ok Jay.  You don't seem like most of the other guys I've met."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"It's definitely a good thing.  I hate most of the other guys I meet."  Jay laughed a little at that.  "You just don't really seem like you belong here."

"Neither do you."

"I'm here because my parents are friends with the emperor and empress.  I always have to go to these big parties.  Although, I am skeptical about if the emperor and empress are really good people."

"They're not," Jay mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Nya asked.  She actually heard what Jay said, but thought that it would be better for now to act like she didn't hear it.  Nya could tell that Jay was out of place at the party.  He walked outside while everyone was inside.  He wouldn't give her his last name.  He says that the emperor and empress aren't good people.  Nya was trying to put everything together in her head.

"Nothing," Jay reassured her.  "Why did you come out here?"

"I saw you out here and thought you could use someone to talk to.  Plus, I was tired of my brother flirting with every girl he came across."

"Does he do that often?"

"You have no idea."  She paused to think about what to say next.  "Have you ever seen the murals that have graffiti all over them?"

Jay didn't know what the expected response would be so he took a guess.  "Of course I have."

"So have I.  I wonder why they do it."

Jay released a breath that he didn't realize he was holding.  He was glad that he chose the correct response.  "No idea.  Maybe the emperor and empress screwed them over."  Nya laughed at that response and Jay couldn't help but smile.  He had never met a girl like Nya.  Actually, he never really had a talk with a girl like this.  Ever.

"I did not expect you to say that," Nya said after she was done laughing.  "No one ever says anything like that and I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks that."

They continued talking for a while.

Back inside, Kai has been surrounded by girls for a while.  He decided to excuse himself for a minute and walked into the kitchen to hideaway for a bit.  He liked that all the girls were attracted to him, but he thought that his charm worked a little too well sometimes.

"Why are you in here?"  He heard a voice asked and turned to face the person talking to him and saw a girl who he had never seen before, but thought she was gorgeous.

"I was trying to get away from some girls that were all over me, not that I minded that much," he answered.  "What are you doing in here?"

"I'm the chef that's been preparing the food for tonight," she asnwered.

Kai decided to turn on the charm with her.  "The name's Kai Smith.  What's yours?"

"I'm Skylor."  Skylor was not impressed with what Kai was trying to do.

"Skylor what?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."  She passed right by Kai to continue with what she was doing.  "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to do my job.  I would appreciate it if you would just leave."

Kai could tell that he wasn't getting anywhere with Skylor, so he just left.

Elsewhere, Zane was walking around when he noticed a girl who was serving food to people.  He had never seen a girl like her before because she was like him.  Zane decided to walk up to her.  "Hello," Zane said to her.

"Hello," she said.

"You look similar to me.  Are you..."

"A robot?" she finished for him.  "Yes.  I am."

"I am Zane.  I was built by Dr. Julian."

"I am PIXAL."

"Who built you?"

"It is not important.  It was nice meeting you, but I better get back to what I was hired to do."

"Yes.  I hope our paths cross again."

"Me too."  PIXAL walked off to continue serving food to people.

Lloyd and Cole were in a different part of the party.  They were close to a hallway where none of the party guests are allowed to go.  They looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them.  When they were sure no one was looking, they snuck in.  The two boys walked down the hallway.  The hallway was long and had several turns along the way.  There were several doors in there also, but none of them were what they were looking for.  As they were taking another turn, Cole spotted a door with guards in front of it and pulled Lloyd back.

"What was that for?" Lloyd whispered to Cole.

Cole took another glance around the corner at the door and then looked back at Lloyd.  "We need to distract the guards."

"Oh my gosh!  Someone is trying to dive into the chocolate fountain!" Lloyd yelled loud enough for the guards to hear and the guards started running to where all the people are.  Lloyd and Cole stayed quiet and up against the wall while the guards ran past them.

"There's a chocolate fountain?!" Cole asked in surprise once all the guards were gone.

"Yeah and it's delicious too," Lloyd told him.

The two walked into the door and saw a giant computer that had all of the emperor and empress's secrets.  Cole pulled out a flashdrive that they had brought and plugged it into the computer while Lloyd found the file they were looking for.  When he opened the file, he saw everyone who the emperor and empress wanted dead and their current status.  It showed if they were dead and if they were alive.  If they were alive, it also showed if their location was known or unknown.  Lloyd downloaded the file onto the flashdrive and when it was done, Cole pulled it out.  

"Let's get going," Lloyd said.

As they started walking, alarms started going off and the two boys looked at each other.  "We need to get out of here!" Cole exclaimed and the two started running.  They got a nice head start.  When they got back to where all the people were, they stopped running to try to blend in again.  They had to find Jay and get out of there.  Although, Cole did try to make a pit stop at the chocolate fountain.  They spent some time looking around the party when they notice a few guards also starting to look around the party and they knew those guards were looking for them.  They finally noticed Jay sitting out in the back courtyard and talking with some girl.  "Who's that girl Jay is talking to?" Cole asked Lloyd.

"I don't know," Lloyd said and looked behind him and noticed the guards getting closer.  "But we need to go."  The two ran outside towards Jay.  "We hate break this up, but we have to go," Lloyd said and he and Cole grabbed Jay.

"It was nice to meet you, Nya," Jay said quickly.

"You too, Jay," Nya said.  "I hope we see each other again."

The three boys took off, but on the way, Cole dropped the flashdrive.  Nya noticed and picked it up.  She was about to call out to them, but she heard guards coming up behind her.

"Lady Nya, have you seen anyone running out of the party," one of the guards said.

Nya turned around and held the flashdrive behind her back.  "Can't say that I have," she said.

"Check around the front," the guard instructed the other guards.  "They couldn't have gone far."  The other guards took off and he turned back to Nya.  "Sorry to disturb you."

"Don't worry about it."

The guard left and Nya looked at the flashdrive in her hand.  She knew that whatever was on this flashdrive was something that the emperor and empress obviously didn't want to get out.  Jay and his friends looked like they were risking a lot to try to get it which means that it must be important.  She might not know what's on the flashdrive, but she knew that she had to try to get it back to them.

A/N: This is probably my favorite chapter so far and the longest.  I hope you enjoyed!